貓兒不在，老鼠翻天

劉德華

聽力掃障

1. quirky /kwki/ adj. 古怪的;獨特的

2. yell /jel/ v. 叫喊;吼叫

3. supervisor /supvaz（r）/ n. 監(jiān)督人;指導者;主管人

聽下面的文章，并根據(jù)文章完成各個部分的練習。從題中所給的A、B、C三個選項中選出最佳選項。文章讀三遍。

1. What has made cats popular as household pets in the US？

A. Their favorable sizes.

B. Their lovely appearance.

C. Their unique personalities.

2. What abnormal function do mice have for cats apart from serving as prey？

A. Serving as a food source.

B. Working as companions.

C. Acting as entertainment tools.

3. Who is likely to be likened to a cat in the cat and mouse game？

A. A person able to control someone.

B. A man having an influence on others.

C. A cruel beast feeding on other animals.

4. What is the feature of the action in a cat and mouse game？

A. It is fierce and accurate.

B. It is repetitive and everlasting.

C. It is complicated and changeable.

5. Who can act as a playing mouse in the absence of a cat？

A. An employee far from his leaders watch.

B. A naughty boy fond of playing tricks on others.

C. A well behaved student when the teacher is away.

6. What subject does this programme focus on？

A. Current news.

B. Language study.

C. Popular cultures.

文本解說

在很多人眼里，貓是一個心靈治愈師，你只要與它對視，瞬間煩心事就無影無蹤了。貓也是一個好奇的偵探，仿佛對所有的事物都充滿好奇，能不斷制造出屬于自己的樂子。貓具有獨特的個性：愛干凈、天真無邪、率性而行。因為貓深受大家喜愛，所以很多國家都形成了不同的貓文化。在英語中，關于貓的習語或俚語也很多，如：“It rains cats and dogs.”（天下起了瓢潑大雨）;“Curiosity killed the cat.”（好奇心害死貓）;“l(fā)ike a cat on a hot tin roof”（熱鍋上的螞蟻）;“no room to swing a cat”（無立錐之地）;“put/set the cat among the pigeons”（引起麻煩）;“agree like cats and dog”（像貓和狗一樣合不來）;“copy cat”（盲目的模仿者）;“enough to make a cat laugh”（讓人笑掉大牙）;“enough to make a cat speak”（令人驚訝）;“fat cat”（大亨）。

本文是一篇與語言學習有關的文章，主要談的是關于“貓”的習語。文章從貓的特質談起，引出話題，繼而過渡到關于貓的習語或俚語學習上，描述了play cat and mouse with someone和“When the cats away， the mice will play！”的使用場景，闡釋了貓和老鼠在對應情境中的角色定位，具有較強的趣味性。

在提高聽力水平的過程中，同學們要克服文化背景知識障礙。語言是文化的一種表現(xiàn)形式，同學們要想學好英語，必須要了解英語國家的社會文化，儲備一定的相關文化背景知識，這有助于理解所學語言。例如“You are， indeed， a lucky dog.”這句話，如果按字面翻譯成漢語就是“你真是一條幸運的狗”，可是，在英語中這句話是說“你真是個幸運兒”?！肮贰痹谶@兒用來指人不但沒有罵人的意思，而且還表示一種親昵的關系。借助已有的文化背景知識，同學們可以更好地解答各類試題，增強學習英語的信心。

The Internet has taught us many things. One important lesson is this： Cats are funny， strange and often unpredictable animals. Their quirky personalities have made cats popular as household pets in homes across the United States.

And they are great hunters. Mice are often on their top five kill list. But sometimes， a cat will not kill the animal it catches. Instead， the catch becomes kind of a toy or plaything.

The cat seizes a mouse， then lets it go， catches it and lets it go. Over and over again！ It is good fun for the cat but frightening for the poor mouse.

So， if you play cat and mouse with someone， you play a power game with him. You， the person with the power， are the cat. Maybe you pretend to give the other person something he want but then take it away. You toy with him. We often call a situation like this a cat and mouse game. For example， a child might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.

A cat and mouse game is filled with lots of action： chases， near captures and repeated escapes. In extreme cases， a cat and mouse game is never ending.

Now， lets leave the game of cat and mouse and talk about playing in a different way.

Lets imagine a classroom filled with young children. The teacher must leave the room for a couple of minutes. At first， everyone is well behaved. But the longer the teacher is gone， the more the class acts up. It starts out slowly. Someone throws a piece of paper. A couple of students get up and walk around. Others start laughing loudly. Someone yells！ Suddenly， all of the students are doing things they would never do with the teacher in the room.

But you know what we say： When the cats away， the mice will play！

This expression means that people sometimes misbehave when no one is there to watch them. So， the teacher is the cat and the students are the mice.

We often use this expression when talking about children and parents， employees and office supervisors and even people in committed relationships.